i 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/comichistoryofunOOhaza 


COMIC  HISTOEY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


fWWm&h  HSTMT 

OF  THE 


IN  WHICH  MANY  FACTS  ARE  GIVEN,  NOT  TO  BE 
FOUND  IN  ANY  OTHER  BOOK. 

By  HEROD  OTIS, 

COMMONLY   CALLED    "THE   FATHER   OF  HISTORY." 


WITH  MANY  ILLUSTRATIONS,   not  BY  LEECH  OR  CKUIKSHANK. 


NEW  YORK: 
LEAVITT     &  ALLEN, 
1861. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  hy 

WILLIS  P.  HAZARD, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  in  and  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANCIENT  AMERICA — DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA  BY  COLON — INVENTION  OP 
COLONIES — ENGLISH  COLONIES — DISCOVERY  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND  —  IN- 
VENTION OF  COD  FISHINQ  BY  SEBASTIAN  CABOT — WALTER  RALEIGH — 
INVENTION  OF  SxMOKING — INVENTION  OF  THE  IRISH  POTATO. 

America  used  to  be  rather  a  wildish  sort  of  country.  It 
was  covered  all  over  with  woods  and  forests.  Indians, 


ANCIENT  AMERICAN  SCENERY. 


bears,  buffaloes,  catamounts,  wolves,  and  other  untamed 
animals  possessed  it.    The  Indians  did  not  use  Minie  rifles 
for  hunting  the  wilder  beasts,  but  contented  themselves  with 
bows  and  arrows,  spears  and  clubs. 
(5) 


6 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


NATIVE  AMERICAN. 


The  Europeans  first  found  out  where  America  was, 
through  the  voyage  of  one  Kit  Colon,  commonly  called 
Christopher  Columbus.  After  Colon's  true  name,  all  the 
places  in  America  settled  by  white  people  were  called 
Colonies. 

Columbus  came  over  with  a  fleet  of  three  very  small 
ships,  and  landed  first  on  Cat  Island,  so  called  from  being 
the  place  where  Whittington  sold  his  famous  cat.  Columbus 
gave  Cat  Island  and  all  the  rest  of  America  to  the  King  of 
Spain.  From  Cat  Island  he  went  to  Hispaniola,  and  planted 
a  colony. 

To  reward  him  for  his  great  services  the  King  of  Spain 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


7 


LANDING  OF  COLUMBUS. — Aft  r  Panuegia/io. 


had  Columbus  put  in  irons,  and  otherwise  disgraced  ;  and 


FIRST  SPANISH  SETTLEMENT  IN  HISPANIOLA 


8 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


one  day  Columbus  died  ;  and  the  king  settled  a  great  many 
Spanish  colonies  in  America. 

Then  the  English  thought  they 
would  like  to  have  some  colonies  too. 
So  they  sent  out  one  Captain  Sebas- 
tian Cabot,  who  discovered  Newfound- 
land and  invented  the  art  of  catching 
codfish  with  a  piece  of  red  flannel  for 
bait. 

After  Cabot,  one  Walter  Ea- 
leigh  came  over  to  America ;  and 
having  learned  from  the  Indians  how 
to  smoke  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  he  taught 
his  countrymen  that  beautiful  accom- 
plishment. To  reward  him  for  this 
great  service.  Queen  Elizabeth  made  "^^^^"^^^  cK^o^.-From  the 

^.  ^     '   ^  J.         -11  n   J    o-         original  portrait  by  Holbein, 

him  a  knight,  and.  he  was  called  bir,  in  possession  of  the  Massachu- 
Ever  since  his  time  it  has  been  the         Historical  Society. 


BIB  WALTER  RALEIGH. — From  the  original  in  the  Capitol  at  Raleigh,  N.  C, 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


custom,  when  a  boy  is  big  enough  to  smoke,  for  people  to 
call  him  Sir. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  first  mate  was  an  Irishman  named 
Pat  Molony.  Landing  somewhere  down  South,  they  came 
upon  a  patch  of  potatoes.  Pat,  "in 
coorse,"  filled  his  pockets  with  them, 
and  took  them  home  to  Ireland  and 
planted  them.  When  you  go  to  Dublin 
you  can  look  in  the  great  square  for 
the  statue  erected  to  his  honor  as  the 
inventor  (which,  you  know,  means 
finder)  of  the  Irish  potato.  The  pota- 
toes raised  in  Ireland  in  those  days  were 
considerably  larger  than  those  we  raise 
now,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  engrav- 


PLANTIHG  OF  THE  POTATO 
IN  IRELAND. 


After  Raleigh,  Captain  Newport  came 
over,  and  with  him  the  famous  Captain 


FIRST  POTATO  RAISED  IN  IRELAND. — From  the  original  in  possession  of  the  Dublin  His- 
torical Society. 


10 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


John  Smith.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  great  Smith  family, 
and  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia.  He  had  killed  a  great  many 
Turks  before  he  came  to  this  country,  and  old  King  Pow- 
hatan captured  Smith,  and  ordered  one  of  his  Indians  to 


POCAHONTAS  SAVING  THE  LIFE  OF  CAPTAIN  SMITH. 


kill  him.     But  Powhatan's  little  daughter,  Pocahontas, 


THE  INDIAN  WHO  DID  NOT  KILL  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH. — From  the  original.  Portrait  hy 
Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  now  in  possession  of  the  Virginia  Historical  Society. 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  H 


then  about  twelve  years  old,  ran  to  Smith's  assistance,  and 
seizing  by  his  long  cue  the  Indian  who  was  going  to  bang 
out  the  brains  of  the  gallant  captain,  she  pulled  the  savage 
over  on  his  back.  Old  Powhatan,  her  father,  called  this 
proceeding  a  capital  joke,  and  let  Smith  off. 

Smith,  besides  being  a  hard  smoker,  was  the  original  in- 
ventor of  the  art  of  chewing  nigger-head  tobacco,  for  which 


CAPTAIN  smith's  PIPE,  TOCACCO-Box,  AND  CANDLESTICK. — AW  kept  in  the  Towcr  of 

London. 

invention  he  is  greatly  honored  by  the  Virginians.  One 
day,  carelessly  laying  his  pipe  down  on  some  gunpowder,  he 
got  badly  blown  up,  and  had  to  go  home  to  England. 

To  reward  Pocahontas  for  saving  the  life  of  Captain 
Smith,  the  English,  when  she  had  grown  a  big  girl,  kid- 
napped her  and  kept  her  a  close  prisoner.  She  was  the 
first  colored  person  that  was  ever  kidnapped  in  Virginia. 
While  she  was  a  prisoner,  Mr.  John  Rolfe  fell  in  love  with 
her,  and  married  her.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  the 
Bishop  of  Richmond,  and  the  wedding  was  attended  by  aU 


(12) 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


13 


the  first  families  in  Virginia.  After  the  wedding,  the  happy 
couple  made  a  bridal  tour  to  England,  when  that  liberal 
monarch,  King  James  the  First,  in  acknowledgment  of  her 
great  services  to  the  Virginia  Colony,  presented  her  with  a 
pair  of  the  queen's  old  shoes. 


Pocahontas's  shoes. — From  the  collection  of  Antiquities  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  Virginians  were  very  fond  of  raising  tobacco,  both 
for  their  own  chewing  and  smoking,  and  for  the  London 
market.    They  planted  on  all  the  available  ground  they 


CULTURE  OF  TOBACCO  IN  VIRGINIA. 


14 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


could  find.  They  planted  it  in  their  gardens,  close  to  their 
houses,  and  even  in  the  very  streets  of  Jamestown,  their 
capital.  At  first  the  labor  of  cultivating  it  was  performed 
by  white  people.  But  all  that  is  changed  now,  and  it  hap- 
pened in  this  wise:  One  day,  there 
came  into  the  harbor  of  Jamestown  a 
Dutchman,  with  a  cargo  of  negroes, 
which  he  had  brought  from  Africa  in 
a  Baltimore  clipper,  hired  for  the  ex- 
press purpose.  This  Dutchman,  whose 
name  was  Hans  Dunder  und  Blitzen,  was  the  inventor  of 
the  Slave  Trade. 


THE  FIRST  SLAVE  SHIP. 


The  Dutchman  that  inveiited  the  slave  trade. 

The  Virginians  were  very  glad  to  have  a  supply  of  la- 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


15 


borers ;  and  they  bought  all  his  negroes,  paying  him  in 
Tobacco,  which  he  sold  at  a  great  profit  in  Amsterdam. 

The  first  negro  boy  who  was  landed  at  Jamestown  after- 
ward became  very  celebrated  as  Bill,  the  body-servant  of 
General  AVashington ;  and  the  first  negro  wench  that  was 


JOYCE  HETH. — From  the  original 


BILL. — From  the  original  por-  in  possession  of  the  Jamestown 

trait  at  Mount  Vernon.  Historical  Society. 

landed,  our  readers  will  be  very  happy  to  learn,  was  no  other 
than  the  celebrated  Joyce,  General  Washington's  nurse. 

Being  now  furnished  with  an  abundant  supply  of  "hands," 
the  Colonists  at  Jamestown  went  on  merrily  with  the  cul- 
ture of  tobacco,  which  soon  became  one  of  the  great  institu- 
tions of  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  II. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  NEW  ENGLAND — ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORD  PURITANS  SAILING 

OF  THE  MAYFLOWER — LANDING  OF  THE  PILGRIMS — COURTSHIP  OF  MILES 
STANDISH  AND  ITS  RESULTS — CHOWDER  AND  CLAM  SOUP  INVENTED — 
ENTERTAINMENT  BY  THE  INDIANS. 

The  settlement  of  New  England  took  place  after  that  of 
Virginia.  It  happened  in  rather  a  roundabout  way,  the 
settlers'  going  first  to  Holland  and  then  to  Massachusetts. 

The  English  lords  and  gentry  of  that  period  were  very 


merry  fellows,  and  wore  long  hair.  One  Mr.  Brown  brought 
in  a  fashion  of  cutting  the  hair  very  short,  close  to  the  head, 


ENGLISH  LORD  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  PILGRIMS. 


(16) 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  1*^ 


EXGLISH  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  TIME  OF  THE  riLGKIMS. 


A  BROWKIST  OR  PURITAN. 

vented  the  art  of  psalm -singing  through  the  nose,  and  favored 
2 


18 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


anxious  meetings  and  very  rigid  and  austere  style  of  man- 
ners, which  gave  offense  to  the  Enghsh  court  and  the  cava- 
Uers  or  gentlemen  all  over  the  country.  So  his  followers, 
who  were  called  Brownists,  were  persecuted  so  much  that 
they  incontinently  fled  to  Holland,  to  enjoy  what  they  called 
religious  liberty. 

On  their  arrival  in  Holland  they  were  hospitably  received 
hy  the  Stadtholder  of  that  period,  who  gave  them  a  hand- 
some entertainment.  On  this  occasion  it  was  observed  by 
the  shrewd  Hollanders  that  the  Brownists  drank  their 
schnapps  pure,  that  is,  without  any  mixture  of  water  or 
sugar.  From  this  circumstance  they  received  the  name  of 
Puritans,  by  which  they  are  so  well  known  in  history. 

The  Brownists  lived  several  years  in  Holland,  where  they 


ELDER  BREWSTER  FISHING  IN  HOLLAND. 


COxMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


19 


enjoyed  perfect  religious  liberty,  being  allowed  to  crop  their 
hair  and  sing  psalms  to  their  hearts'  content.  One  of  their 
leading  men  was  Elder  Brewster,  a  great  theologian  and 
trout-fisher.  He  was  so  fond  of  fishing  that  he  was  often 
seen  pursuing  his  favorite  sport  among  the  muddy  Dutch 
streams,  Avhen  it  rained,  as  they  say,  cats  and  dogs.  On 
these  occasions  Mrs.  Brewster  signalized  her  conjugal  afi'ec- 
tion  by  attending  on  the  elder  with  an  umbrella. 

One  evening,  after  a  damp  fishing  excursion,  Mrs.  Brews- 
ter said  to  her  husband : — 

"  My  dear,  don't  you  think  there  is  better  trout-fishing  in 
America  than  here'?" 

"  Very  likely,"  said  the  elder. 

"Suppose,  then,  we  go  there,"  said  the  lady.  "Besides, 
there  is  another  reason  for  going.  We  have  now  been  in 
Holland  ten  years,  and  if  we  remain  here  always,  all  our  chil- 
dren will  be  Dutchmen.  What  do  you  think  of  that, 
honey  ?' 

"  I  never  thought  of  that  before,"  said  the  elder ;  "  You 
are  a  sensible  woman,  Mrs.  Brewster,  and  our  children 
shan't  be  Dutchmen.  We  will  take  the  next  steamer  for 
America." 

Accordingly,  an  anxious  meeting 
of  the  Puritans  was  held  next  day. 
The  elder  told  the  people  it  would 
never  do  to  have  all  their  children 
become  Dutchmen,  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  sail  for  America  forthwith. 
The  steamer  Mayflower  was  char  - 

ANXIOUS  MEETING. 


20 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


tered,  and  the  Puritans,  with  their  wives  and  children,  and 
an  immense  quantity  of  high- 
backed  chairs  and  claw-feet 
tables,  were  speedily  em- 
barked. The  Dutch  captain 
of  the  Mayflower  hoisted  the 
star-spangled  banner,  the  band 
played  Yankee  Doodle,  and 
so  the  party  steamed  merrily 
out  of  the  harbor  of  Delft- 
haven,  f        VOYAGE  OF  THE  MAYFLOWEE. 

They  touched  at  Southampton  to  take  the  mails,  and  here 


CAPTAIN  OF  THE  MAYFLOWER.— 4/i:er  Vandyke. 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


21 


they  were  joined  by  some  more  Puritans.  These  persons 
had  intended  to  sail  in  the  Speedwell ;  but  her  machinery 
broke,  and  they  all  crowded  on  board  the  Mayflower,  bring- 
ing along  with  them  another  immense  quantity  of  high- 
backed  chairs,  claw-foot  tables,  and  other  furniture.  A  few 
gentlemen  joined  the  party,  who  had  urgent  reasons  for 
leaving  the  country,  being  anxious  to  avoid  frittering  away 
their  estates  by  paying  tradesmen's  bills. 


tkadesmen's  bills. 


The  Mayflower  appears  to  have 
had  rather  a  long  passage,  as  they 
did  not  make  Cape  Cod  Light  till 
they  had  been  out  sixty-six  days. 
After  amusing  themselves  with 
fishing  for  a  day  or  two  in  this 
neighborhood,  and  signing  a  consti- 
tution of  government,  the  party 


CAPE  COD  LIGHTHOD^E. 


One  of  the  chief  men  among  the  Pilgrims,  as  they  now 
began  to  be  called,  was  Captain  Miles  Standish.  He  was- 
a  short  man,  very  hot-tempered,  and  fond 
of  rambling  in  the  woods,  cutting  down 
trees,  and  shooting  Indians.  Hence  he 
is  styled  the  pioneer  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

The   town   of  Salem  has  been  cele-^ 
brated  in  all  periods  of  history  for  its 
beautiful  witches.    Rambling  over  "^rom 
Plymouth  to  Salem,  one  day.  Captain 
Standish  saw  and  fell  desperately  in  love  with  one  of  these- 
beautiful  Salem  witches.    A  long 
courtship  followed;  but  the  witch 
jilted  him  at  last.    This  treatment 
the   captain   took  so  seriously  to 
heart  that  he  incontinently  nailed  a 
horseshoe  over  his  front  door  to 


CAPTAIN  STANDISH. 


COnRTSHIP  OF  MILES  STANDISH, 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  25 

prevent  all  access  of  witches  to  his  house  from  that  day 
forth  forevermore. 


SwoKD  of  Captain  Standish,  his  Razor,  and  tlie  very  Horseshoe  which,  was 
nailed  over  his  door. 

The  accommodations  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  were 
not  very  good.    Provisions  at  first  were  very  scarce;  but 


SETTLEMENT  AT  PLYMOUTH. 


26 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  Pilgrims  soon  discovered  plenty  of  clams  on  the  beach, 
and  soon  found  out  the  best  methods  of  cooking  them. 
John  Carver,  the  first  Governor  of  Plymouth,  invented  clam 


GOV.  CARVER. 

chowder,  and  William  Bradford,  the  second  Governor,  sug- 
gested important  improvements  in  clam  soup.    He  was  so 


THE   FIKST   IIO:;SE  THAT  r>IRD. 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


27 


fond  of  this  delicious  liquor,  that  he  is  said  to  have  drunk 
it  off  as  he  would  havd  drunk  schnapps. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Pilgrims,  all  the  horses, 
camels,  oxen,  and  sheep  they  had  brought  with  them,  died — 
especially  the  horses. 

During  the  first  winter  of  their  residence  in  Plymouth, 
the  Pilgrims  saw  no  Indians.  In  the  spring  they  received 
a  friendly  visit  from  Samoset,  who  said  to  them,  "  Welcome, 
Englishmen;  I  am  glad  you  are  not  Dutchmen:"  at  which 
the  Pilgrims  greatly  marveled. 


FKIENDLY   VJSIT  OF  SAMOSET. 


This  visit  was  followed      that  of  King  Massasoit,  who. 


28  COMIC  HISTORY  OF    HE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  next  summer,  gave  a  splendid  entertainment,  consisting 
of  green  corn,  succotash,  clams  au  naturel,  and  other 
delicacies  of  the  season.    The  entertainment  was  attended 


KING  MASSASOIT  AND  HIS  PALACE. 


by  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  and  his  suite,  the  Attorney- 
General,  members  of  Congress,  officers  of  the  Navy  and 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  29-. 

Army,  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  Plymouth,  a  handsome 
sprinkUng  of  Salem  witches,  many  citizens  of  distinction, 
and  the  reporters  of  the  daily  press.    After  the  wine  had 


HouK-GLASs  presented  to  Massasoit  hy  Governor  Bradford. 


30 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


with  Massasoit,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  in  New 
England  history. 

After  this,  an  Indian  king,  named  Coobitouit,  getting  re 
fractory  and  threatening  hostilities,  Captain  Standish,  taking 
only  a  corporal's  guard  with  him,  went  into  the  king's 
dominions,  surrounded  his  palace,  frightened  him  out  of  his 
seven  senses,  and  made  him  sign  a  treaty.  So  say  all  the 
historians  of  New  England. 

After  this  affair,  Canonicus,  chief  of  the  Narragansetts, 
sent  a  bundle  of  arrows  tied  up  with  a  rattlesnake's  skin  to 
the  Pilgrims,  by  way  of  defiance.  Governor  Bradford  coolly 
filled  the  rattlesnake's  skin  with  powder  and  bullets,  and 
sent  it  back.  Thereupon  Canonicus  showed  the  white 
feather,  and  signed  a  treaty,  with  more  grants  of  lands, 
which  were  bought  by  a  Joint  Stock  Company,  and  laid  out 
in  town  lots.  Lithographed  plans  were  sent  to  New  York, 
and  the  lands  were  sold  at  the  Exchange,  bringing  prices 
by  which  the  Pilgrims  "  made  a  nice  thing  of  it." 

Soon  after  the  land  fever  was  over,  Pecksuot  and  other 


CAPTAIN  STANDISH  SLAYING  TUE  INDIANS. 


COMIC  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


31 


Indian  chiefs  getting  saucy,  and  threatening  to  fight  against 
the  Plymouth  Colony,  the  fiery  Captain  Standish  got  in  a 
terrible  passion,  declaring  that  he  would  put  an  end  to 
Indian  impudence  from  that  time  forth.  The  governor 
offered  to  place  the  entire .  army  of  the  Colony  at  his  dis- 
posal for  the  purpose ;  but,  taking  only  eight  men  with  him, 
he  marched  straight  into  the  enemy's  country,  and  killed 
Pecksuot  and  sundry  others  with  his  own  hand.  This  so 
terrified  the  Indians,  says  Winslow,  that  they  forsook  their 
homes,  running  to  and  fro  like  men  distracted,  living  in 
swamps  and  other  desert  places,  and  so  brought  diseases  on 
themselves,  whereof  many  died.  Here  ended  the  first 
Indian  wars  of  New  England. 


THE  END. 


